Temperature/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim & Moby. A man, Tim, reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim & Moby, what's temperature? From, Zac. The animation shows Tim and a robot, Moby, standing in a room in a room. TIM: All the matter in the Universe is made out of tiny particles called atoms, which can be combined into slightly larger particles called molecules. Atoms and molecules are on the move all the time. All this molecular movement creates heat energy. Temperature is a measure of heat or how fast those molecules are moving. The more you heat something, the faster the molecules move. An animation shows a group of six spheres, moving around, bumping into each other. To the left of the spheres, a thermometer appears. Less than half the height of the thermometer is shaded gray. TIM: This is what causes its temperature to rise. The spheres begin to increase in speed. The shaded area in the thermometer increases to nearly the top. The animation changes to show Tim and Moby in the room. TIM: There's really no such thing as cold. Cold is just an absence of the molecular motion that causes heat. Boiling water has a higher temperature than cold water simply because its molecules are moving around more! An animation shows a pot on the left with a wavy line rising from it. Behind the pot is a yellow background with orange circles moving around and bumping into each other. Then, on the right, a glass of water with ice cubes appears. Behind the glass is a light blue background with dark blue circles moving around and bumping into each other. These circles are moving slower than the orange circles on the left. TIM: Temperature is measured using a thermometer. An image shows a thermometer. It is an elongated oval object with a rounded end. Above the rounded end, there are 14 equally spaced lines that run perpendicular to the wall of the thermometer. Inside the thermometer, there is a smaller version of the shape that is shaded. The bottom up to between the fifth and sixth lines is shaded gray. The rest is shaded red. TIM: There are three main scales by which temperature is measured. The animation shows Tim. TIM: The Celsius, or Centigrade, scale is the most widely used, and it's based on the behavior of water. Tim holds up a glass of water. TIM: Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius. An animation shows an ice cube. Next to the ice cube is a thermometer. On the background behind the thermometer, text reads: degrees Upper C. The thermometer is shaded gray up to between the fifth and sixth lines. Next to this, text reads: 0 degrees Upper C. The rest is shaded red. Next to the thirteenth line, text reads: 100 degrees Upper C. The ice cube begins to melt as the gray shaded area on the thermometer rises. (bubbling water noise) The melted ice water begins to bubble. The gray area on the thermometer moves up to the thirteenth line. The animation changes to show Tim. TIM: The Fahrenheit scale, used primarily in the United States, is a little less straightforward. Pure water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. An animation shows an ice cube. Next to the ice cube is a thermometer. On the background behind the thermometer, text reads: degrees Upper F. The thermometer is shaded gray up to between the fifth and sixth lines. Next to this, text reads: 32 degrees Upper F. The rest is shaded red. Next to the thirteenth line, text reads: 212 degrees Upper F. The ice cube begins to melt as the gray shaded area on the thermometer rises. (bubbling water noise) The melted ice water begins to bubble. The gray area on the thermometer moves up to the thirteenth line. The animation changes to show Tim. TIM: The Kelvin scale is a favorite of scientists, because it begins at the absolute coldest anything can get. This temperature is also called absolute zero, and it equals 0 Kelvins. An animation shows three spheres moving around. Next to the spheres is a thermometer. On the background behind the thermometer, text reads: Upper K. Next to the bottom of the thermometer, text reads: 0 Upper K. The thermometer is shaded gray up to just before the twelfth line. The spheres slow down and the gray shaded area on the thermometer lowers. The spheres stop moving and only the bottommost part of the thermometer is shaded gray. The animation changes to show Tim and Moby. TIM: At absolute zero, all molecular motion stops. There's always some molecular motion, so you won't ever actually see absolute zero. Deep space gets close, but even there the cosmic background radiation from the Big Bang keeps things slightly above 0 Kelvins. An image shows the night sky. The animation shows Moby. MOBY: Beep. TIM: More temperature stuff? The animation shows Tim and Moby. TIM: Ah… heated gases expand, making them less dense. Air near the Earth's surface is heated by sunlight striking the ground. An animation shows the horizon of a grassy area. There are hills on the left side, a road near the middle of the horizon, and mountains to the right of the road. Above the horizon is the sun. An yellow translucent oval appears in the middle of the ground. TIM: This warm air rises, and cooler, denser air from higher in the atmosphere sinks down to take its place. In the sky, just below the sun, a horizontal blue translucent oval appears and moves to the left and down as the yellow oval that appeared at the ground moves to the right and up. The blue oval that moved down becomes yellow and the yellow oval that moved up becomes blue. This cycle repeats. TIM: The warmer air cools off, and the cooler air warms up, creating a convection current. A curved arrow appears in the top left of the screen and moves counterclockwise with these moving ovals. The cycle repeats two times. The animation shows Tim. His hair is blowing around. TIM: That, along with the rotation of the Earth, is where the wind comes from! When matter heats up, it has a tendency to expand. An image shows a thermometer. The gray shaded area is up to between the fifth and sixth lines. TIM: This is how thermometers work! A liquid like mercury is sealed in a glass tube. The image zooms into the top of the shaded area on the thermometer. TIM: Heat makes the molecules of the fluid move more rapidly and expand. From the top of the shaded area, six spheres appear. The spheres move around and bump into each other. TIM: The liquid rises, showing us the temperature! The gray area in the thermometer rises to fill the rest of the thermometer that can be seen. The animation changes to show Tim and Moby. Tim is holding a thermometer. Moby raises his right arm to his chest and his fingers retract. (freezing water beam sound) Blue circles move around his arm and a blue beam shoots from it, forming a circle over the thermometer. When the beam disappears, Tim’s hand that is holding the thermometer is covered in a thick layer of ice. TIM: Why?!Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Science Transcripts